- World experts confirm that antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) can play a major role in combatting AMR without generating resistance.
- WHO has declared that AMR (Anti-Microbial Resistance) is one of the top global public health threats facing humanity.
Leading experts from around the world are gathering at the 18th World Congress of International Photodynamic Association (IPA) in Tampere, Finland (July 10th-15th) to discuss and advance light-activated therapies to treat infections that pose the biggest threats to global health security. Antimicrobial photodynamic disinfection (APDT) based therapies kill all types of pathogens viruses, bacteria and fungi and could replace antibiotics and anti-fungals for the treatment of disease-causing pathogens, including multi-drug resistant strains.
Antimicrobial photodynamic disinfection (also known as photodisinfection) is already in use in hospitals and clinics across the world including in North America, Europe, Asia, Russia, Brazil, India, and Australia for a range of applications including the treatment of skin diseases and the prevention of hospital infections. APDT has not only proven to be effective against all types of pathogens but does not generate resistance or serious adverse effects unlike antibiotics.
President of the IPA Board of Directors and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, Luis Arnaut, PhD comments, "The rise of AMR is a serious threat to human life. There is a need for health systems to adopt this proven technology and save lives. The congress will explore the latest research and the important role that light-based medicine can play in the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of disease."
Photodynamic medicine, both diagnostics and treatments, rely on light-activated photosensitizers which are agents that absorb light of a specific wavelength and transform it into energy that can eradicate infection causing pathogens. There are a growing number of applications for aPDT that are being developed in leading research centres around the world.
Past President Tayyaba Hasan, Professor of Dermatology at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a Professor of Health Sciences and Technology (Harvard-MIT) stated, "AMR is a global threat that is increasingly gaining attention of the global PDT community. It is gratifying to see the quality of research and commercial applications being showcased at this World Congress. We note the growing sense of urgency to bring important aPDT based solutions to deal with the rise in antimicrobial resistance." Professor Hasan, a leader in her field, has been awarded 5 Lifetime Achievement Awards and has been recently honoured by the IPA as Gold Medal recipient for her lifetime achievements advancing the field of photodynamic therapy. In the Hasan Laboratory, Professor Hasan's team has been working on the development of phototherapeutic agents for the treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, and other diseases affecting large underserved markets.
The IPA World Congress will feature research on a number of areas that use light-activated photosensitizers, including photodynamic disinfection, photodisinfection photodynamic therapy (PDT), photoimmunotherapy (PIT), and photodiagnosis (PD).
Photodisinfection is already widely used to prevent and treat oral infections in dentistry, prevention of hospital-acquired infections in patients undergoing surgery, in oncology, and treatment of chronic sinusitis.
The 18th World Congress of the International Photodynamic Association
The Biennial International Photodynamic Association World Congress aims to bring together researchers and clinicians in all fields of Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Photodiagnosis (PDD) since 1986. Every two years, the IPA organizes a conference to foster scientific development and contribute to clinical practice. The 18th IPA World Congress will be held in Tampere, Finland, July 10-15, 2023.
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